174th Whiting Thanksgiving, November 24 2022

The Wilton Dunns welcomed us to the Red House, as it is known, on a beautiful fall day. The Red House is the parish house for the Wilton Center Congregational church. The old house and older church form the centerpiece of this classic New England hamlet and are full of memories of past Thanksgivings and family weddings.

The dining room, with its lovely table linens, candles and decorations, presented a festive scene. The family cooks, men and women, added their creations to the turkey, dressing, and gravy for an abundant and delicious feast. Of the thirty-five present, there were 10 cousins under ten for whom fun rather than food was the purpose of the day.

After dinner and family news, we were off to West Wilton to the home of Katie Dunn and Joe Patton, hosts for the day for dessert, conversation, and some skeet shooting. We had lovely a Thanksgiving and wish that you could have shared it with us. Thank you to the Wilton Dunns for entertaining us so well.

Family news since November 2021 to November 2022

Births: Elliot Owen Luckow, son of Cynthia Dunn and Patrick Luckow, February 27, 2022, Hanover, NH. Elliot is the grandson of Joan Gilmore and Mark Dunn, and the great grandson of Betsy Dunn. Elliot and his Grandy (Mark) share a birthday.

Georgiana Ruth Patton, daughter of Kathryn Dunn and Joseph Patton, July 24, 2022, Manchester, NH. Georgiana is the granddaughter of Gretchen Crammer and Randy Dunn, and the great granddaughter of Betsy Dunn. Georgiana has an older brother, Teddy.

Camille Scoggin, daughter of Kara Nelson and Gabriel Scoggin, 2019, CA. Camille is the granddaughter of Cynthia (Norton) and James Scoggin, and the great granddaughter of Barbara (Whiting) and George P. Norton. She also has an older brother, Maverick.

Other family news: Abby Regan was featured in the Exchange section of the Wall Street Journal, March 12-13, 2022, as a young entrepreneur who started her in-home physical therapy service during the Covid epidemic.

Daniel Arms was promoted to captain for JetBlue Airlines, August 2022.

Timothy Whiting, Jr, reported on research done by his family concerning Dorcas Chester (1637-1713), widow, of Wethersfield, Connecticut Colony, whose second marriage to Samual Whiting, Jr. (1633-1713) occurred in 1656. It appears that following the death of her first husband, Doracs Chester moved to her mother’s home in Boston, a likely location for meeting Samuel Jr., studying at Harvard for the clergy. In 1658 Samuel, Jr. became the settled minister at the Billerica Church. The couple remained in Billerica until their deaths in 1713. They were the parents of six children. Dorcas was related to Thomas Hooker, leader of the settlers of Hartford, Colony of Connecticut.

Family Genealogy Project: Abby Regan and Katie Dunn will head the online genealogy project for the Samuel and Elizabeth St John Whiting line. The intention is to keep the information correct, current and accessible for the family.